We'll start with lows mainly in the 30's early Sunday morning. Showers will be widely scattered through the overnight, and we'll be mainly dry by sunrise...a nice respite before the next round of winter weather comes through.

Sunday's storm won't waste any time in arriving, spreading rain into the region again by late morning. Some of the rain may begin as snow in the lowlands, especially around Hood Canal, where 1-4" of wet snow may pile up before the precipitation turns over to rain. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in place for Hood Canal as a result.

As the storm's center approaches, gusty south winds will begin to increase around the coast, and then around the interior. A HIGH WIND WARNING (and upgrade from the earlier watch) is in place for the communities near the coast and throughout the Northwest Interior for Sunday. Southerly/southeasterly winds between 45 and 60 mph are expected along the beaches, and gusts of 40-55 (maybe even as high as 60) mph will begin to howl from Whidbey Island north into the San Juans, Strait, and Whatcom County.

For the Sound, look for south winds to pick up on Sunday afternoon between 30 and 40 mph. Near the Cascade foothills, we may see winds gusting to 50 mph or more by late afternoon, and there is now a HIGH WIND ADVISORY in place for the eastern Puget Sound lowlands from 1 pm to 10 pm on Sunday. This is a moderately-sized wind storm, but because of the ground saturation from the recent snow melt and rainfall, the chance for more wind-induced tree damage and associated power outages is high. Temperatures will top out in the 40s around the Sound, but we'll stay on either side of freezing in the passes. 2-4" of new snow is expected over I-90, and with the winds picking up, driving will once again become difficult over the mountains on Sunday. With gusty winds and falling snow over Snoqualmie Pass, we may see periods of blizzard-like conditions along the main east-west corridors in the Cascades. Avalanche danger remains high over the Cascades and Olympics, too.

We'll enjoy yet another break between storms on back-to-work Monday. Scattered showers will alternate with sun breaks, and highs will stay in the low to middle 40s.

Another round of rain and wind comes through on Tuesday. This storm will be at least as strong as the Sunday storm, so more wind damage is possible. Highs will again top out in the 40s, which is typical for late January.

One more round of rain moves through later Wednesday, but this storm looks weaker and shouldn't be a big wind maker. Drying should begin Thursday, and at this point, Friday and Saturday could turn out quiet and partly cloudy.

Let's hope so! After a slow start, we sure had a big taste of winter over the past week. It will be nice to have a break in the winter storms for a bit.